Global InformationCapella Space information
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Earth Observation |
| Founded | March 2016 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Frank Backes (CEO) |
| Products | High-Resolution (sub-0.5m) SAR satellite Imagery and geospatial solutions |
| Website | capellaspace |
Capella Space is an American space company with satellite and declassified SAR data solutions for government and commercial use. It offers space-based radar Earth observation satellites equipped with synthetic-aperture radar that can collect imagery through clouds and at night.[1] The company is based in San Francisco, California with offices in Washington, D.C., and Louisville, Colorado. It was founded by Payam Banazadeh, a former engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA, and William Walter Woods.[2]
The company was founded in 2016, has more than 200 employees (January 2024), and raised venture capital from investors such as Canaan Partners, Data Collective, Pear VC and Spark Capital.[3]
Capella designs, manufactures and operates a fleet of synthetic aperture radar satellites to provide high-resolution, all-weather imagery to the U.S. government and commercial customers. Capella is launching its third-generation Acadia satellites. Sequoia, the first-generation satellite, launched in August 2020. Six second-generation Whitney satellites were launched between January 2021 and January 2022 on SpaceX Transporter rideshare missions into a polar Sun-synchronous orbit.[4] In 2023, Capella began launching its third-generation, Acadia satellites. Capella is launch agnostic, leveraging diverse launch providers to place its satellites in a variety of orbits, both mid-inclination and sun-synchronous.
As of January 2024, Capella Space had four operational satellites. It has raised about $250 million in total equity and debt financing since its founding in 2016.[5]
- ^ "DIUx, the Defense Department unit that funds Silicon Valley's space industry to help detect a North Korean attack — Quartz". qz.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ^ "Capella Space plans to launch imaging satellites that can see through clouds using orbital radar — Quartz". qz.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ^ "Capella Space Corp". forbes.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ^ "Capella 2, ..., 7 (Sequoia, Whitney)". Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ^ Michael Sheetz (10 January 2023). "Capella Space raises $60 million from fund run by billionaire entertainment exec Thomas Tull". cnbc.com. Retrieved 10 July 2023.